East beasts: All teams above .500

First time since '95 two divisions were this good this late

By Jon Star / MLB.com

Memorial Day weekend typically serves as an observation point to step back and get a high-level look at how teams stack up against each other in the standings. This season, Major League Baseball passed the holiday benchmark with a level of divisional competitiveness unseen in nearly 20 years.

With the Red Sox and Blue Jays emerging victorious from Tuesday's action, it marks the first time since June 23, 1995, that all teams in multiple divisions are above .500 this late in the season. Entering Wednesday, the entirety of the American League East and National League East are sitting north of .500. Furthermore, it is the first time in baseball history in which two five-team divisions are wholly in the black this late in the season.

On that date in 1995, both the NL West and AL West were above .500, yet both divisions included only four teams. The latest point of the season in which every team in two divisions was at or above .500 was July 3, 1995, also the NL West and the AL West.

The latest all clubs in the AL East were above .500 in the standings was June 13, 2008, under the current divisional format.

The NL East has a history of boasting such depth. In 2005, the NL East became the only division in the current divisional format to end the year without a sub-.500 team. The Braves claimed the division crown that year with a 90-72 mark, while the Nationals finished last at 81-81. The latest the NL East featured all of its teams above .500 was the second to last day of the '05 season.

Entering play on May 29, every NL East team was at least two games above .500. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, it marked the first time since June 15, 2006, that all five teams in a division (NL West) were at least two games over .500.

Prior to Wednesday, the last time all NL East teams were at or above .500 was May 31, 2010, when the Braves were 29-22, the Phillies were 28-22 and the Marlins, Nationals and Mets were all 26-26.

On May 30, 2004, the NL Central became the only six-team division to be completely at or above .500.

Last season, the entirety of the AL West reached .500 or better on May 29 when the A's (27-27) and Mariners (26-26) both sat at .500.

Jon Star is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.